Learning Side by Side
At Naptown Jazz Kids, young musicians don’t just learn about jazz. They play it right next to the professionals.
At Naptown Jazz Kids, young musicians don’t simply learn about jazz. They experience it.
Since 2019, we’ve built a place where students learn, listen, perform, and grow alongside professional musicians and dedicated educators who believe deeply in the next generation. Exceptional music. Inspiring mentors. Experiences that last a lifetime.
The Oldest Way to Learn Jazz
Our approach is rooted in one of jazz’s greatest traditions: learning from one another by playing together.
In rehearsal, our faculty regularly pick up their instruments and sit alongside our students. They demonstrate a phrase, lead a section, join the rhythm section, trade musical ideas, and model the sound and spirit of the music in real time.
Students don’t just hear what their teachers are asking for.
They hear what’s possible.
Access to Extraordinary Artists
The Naptown Jazz Kids experience reaches well beyond the rehearsal room. Throughout the year, our students meet, hear, and learn directly from exceptional professional musicians through workshops, masterclasses, clinics, concerts, and side-by-side performances.
Since our founding, we’ve been proud to welcome musicians from all three of Washington, D.C.’s premier military jazz ensembles:
The U.S. Army Blues
The U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note
The U.S. Navy Band Commodores
These artists are some of the finest jazz musicians working today. Bringing them together with young players creates an experience that’s both inspiring and deeply personal.
More Than a Performance
At Naptown Jazz Kids, a workshop is never simply about watching a professional musician perform. It’s about sitting close enough to hear how they shape a phrase. Asking the question you’ve been carrying around all season. Playing a chorus and getting honest feedback from someone who does this at the highest level.
And sometimes it’s the moment a young musician realizes the distance between where they are and where they want to be is shorter than they thought.
That’s what learning side by side looks like.
Ready to play? Join the Band →
